The story, or rather the shoot continues. Yes, sometimes the girl takes over the shoot and I have learned to go with the flow.

After the necked sets VADA decides to get a soda. I keep water and drinks in the studio fridge. For models there are straws, but VADA never uses them, so back to the dressing room to apply more lip stick.

The wondering eyes of a model is never to be interfered with, it is the well spring of creativity! She is back in dress up mode, playing Pretty, Pretty Princess.

"Timmy", she exclaims, "When did you get this cute burgundy corset?" as she eyes it holding it up high dangling from the hanger.

"I don't remember but it has been here a while," I say. I know that admiring tone in her sing-song voice. She will be in it as soon as it's off the hanger, and as I know Ms. VADA, it is gone. We know each other so well.

"Ok, lets finish up the shoot with the burgundy bustier, then you can take it home; that lucky Mr. Jason will be getting a little extra on Christmas morning I'm thinking!" I say to her as she is slipping into the bustier.

"Really Timmy, I can have it!" VADA says vary excited.

"Your imposable you know, but it is cute the way you all ways ask," I say, "Remember my favorite line to Emma Baby*, You can have anything you want!"

*Emma was the young girl child of my vary best friend Melanie, that I always took care of while her mother was across the hall teaching photography darkroom class at the Craft Center.

It is nice that many lenses are "Weather sealed" today.
But is this an obsession way beyond the actual value. I note that many here are terrified of even changing lenses and proudly proclaim having a body for each lens. Additionally how many here actually use their equipment in rain, heavy blowing dust or other severe conditions? I dare say a very small few, from comments here again.
Were not most all if not all manual focus lenses not sealed. Yet they were successfully used by people in some of the most hostile environments for decades.
Again, for most everyone today is Weather sealing really needed and just something more to worry about and more marketing hype than reality?
PS I have taken equipment from steaming jungles to the Arctic and dusty deserts with no ill affects. Also Additionally even used instamatics where discretion was needed with no problems.
So what are the opinions, I know you all have them.

I know that I will be getting good advice from my UHH colleagues. I was tasked by my daughter with to recommend a large format printer to buy. She wants a printer with 17" minimum width. She's leaning towards a Canon but I've heard good things from Epson printers.
Although her photo taking abilities, eye and creativity, have long surpassed my own, she still depends on dad for equipment advice and in this case I am delegating this on you. Her camera is a Fuji GFX50R.
Looking forward to your input
Claude

Where we you 60 years ago today, November 22, 1963?

I was 16-years old and a Junior in high school. I was in physics class when they announced that President Kennedy had been shot. Keep in mind that we were in Northern Michigan and it was in the middle of deer season, so the first comments that we made between ourselves was that we didn't know Kennedy was a hunter, since for us, the only time we ever heard of someone getting shot was because of a hunting accident (there's no question that we were living sheltered lives). It was maybe 30-minutes later, when I was in study hall, that it was announced that Kennedy was dead and that it had taken place in Dallas.

About 15-minutes after that, they announced that classes had been cancelled and that the buses would soon be taking us home. We were also informed that since it was Friday, and that Thanksgiving was the following Thursday, that school would be closed for the entire week, instead of the just the originally planned two-days, Thursday and Friday.

I was working in a local grocery store/meat market at the time and being in an area where a lot of hunters came for deer season, we were pretty busy, so my boss asked me to come in and work most of the days that I had off (I was already scheduled to work the weekends and after school so in the end, it was only a few extra hours). We had a TV at the store and we watched most of the news programs covering the activities of the week. Of course, everyone who came into the store had to stop, look at what was going on and express their opinions and views, to say nothing about speculating what actually happened and who was ultimately responsible. While the term 'conspiracy theory' was not yet part of our lexicon, you could see how stuff like that got started and what perpetuated it.

A real time grudge w/Nikon, as (mostly) a lifetime user - bodies and a stable of lenses.
Upgraded to Nikon digital mostly due to the on hand accompanying equipment with the full frame format. Started with an N90s film and worked up with digitals until what I am currently using, the D700.

I sent in a lens to be repaired. They require a cc to temporarily charge for the amount quoted. Fair enough. I agreed. As circumstances changed I requested the repair charge to be on another cc. Not a problem they said, and the other card would be discontinued in their system. Great.

They then charged the changed cc the same amount w/o deleting the original (pre repair amount) on the first card. This put me in a pickle, over this last St. Valentines holiday, and hamstrung me for a date with my wife, as they now had 2 cards charged with the same amount. Apparently they charge the card up front, delete it within a week, and then charge the agreed-to amount upon the confirmation of repair order.

On a 3rd and 4th call they assured me that the charge was only temporary, and that it would come off by the weekend. By early the next week it was off - after being on for close to a week - leaving me in a hard spot over the holiday weekend as they had use of my money without deleting the charge on either card.

No apologies, said the other card couldn't be deleted from their system as previously guaranteed. My question to them; with all of their IT guys, there wasn't one capable, smart enough or with the training of highlighting an entry and hitting delete??? They had said upfront they could, and would be doing so. They didn't state that they were going to charge the new account, slated for the repairs, the upfront charge as well as the charge on the original card. At the same time.

When it came time to agree to the repair, at the same cost they originally quoted, I asked them, how am I guaranteed that both cards won't be used, or even just the original one used, that I couldn't have any additional charge on it? I was told by a 'higher up' that there was no guarantee.

So without any guarantee that both cards wouldn't be accessed, Per the CS rep I spoke with, I refused the repair and had the lens returned. I have lost faith in what I thought was a professional outfit. Yet considering that photography is only 1 of many ventures for Nikon, it apparently isn't high on customer satisfaction, protection, or good business policies.

This leaves me with an extremely sour taste for Nikon. They had use of 2 charges for the same lens on their books to account for their profit, while I was both furious and very disappointed with Nikon repair service and left w/o use of the cards in question for my needs.

When I eventually change to mirrorless, I will be looking at other manufactures' products. I have many Pentax and Minolta lenses from film days.

On a positive note, with Lowe's firing their IT dep't. and moving it to India, Nikon can find someone there that is smart enough to highlight an entry and hit 'delete'.

Maybe they have someone in Nikon that's smart enough to look. It's a big world, certainly there is someone.......

I admit, I do love to experiment. But that experiment is never like what some call a test. Tests are to work through the idea, root out the problems. Here is my idea of the experiment where it has to have an outcome worth posting.

I took the digital camera into the studio (black out lighting studio) and illuminated a target with a Photogenic 1932 light. These were used to illuminate the night scenes in the last Indian Jones film. Look and you can see them scattered about, KOOL! Mine are 1K (1000watt), while the Jones film has my type and the 5K (5,000K) type, but all are the same basic design. Thing is people today call these Beauty Dishes, and they are similar but the 1932 Photogenics are adjustable (focus), which makes them a wonderful tool.

So, I set the camera color balance to the 3200 Kelven temperature. Then we go outdoors to shoot with the mix of daylight and 3200 Temp light, mixed. The distance from the light will focus and favor the warm effect while the daylight off from that light (middle and background will shift to the cool colors only daylight is there (it is mostly cyan).

The fish (ceramic) with its brown wash finish also favors her Hispanic skin tones, while her red tail is so off the scale to red/orange that even hit by daylight you get that hot red effect!

That is why she is in that devil costume (and for many other reasons as well).

The whole thing works for me, how bout you?

Ok, this is just the start, more coming!

It is cooling off in San Antonio and Ms. VADA ended up in New York City over the weekend but promised to stop by! Photoshoot, garden, can't wait!!!